This image was just something I shot with some extra time after my original target got to low. Markarians chain is pretty underwhelming at 135mm focal length but it did make a neat image to explore once it was annotated. It amazes me how much is out there.
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Arron.
I just saw your post and it reminded me that I did this a couple years ago. I think that I posted something about this in May of 2022, but I believe all of that information is lost?
Anyway, I hope that I am not repeating myself by posting again on this subject. Sky and Telescope had a great article called “Markarian’s Marvelous Chain” by Howard Banich in April 2022. It is definitely worth reading. That article got me to go out and attempt to photograph this grouping of galaxies.
My setup is a Skywatcher Esprit 80 ED Super APO f/5 with a ZWO ASI2600MC pro mounted on a SkyWatcher EQ6-R pro. I took this image March 31, 2022 at Skiatook, Ok, my home. It is 38 - 300 seconds of guided exposure cooled to -10C with a gain of 100. It was processed with Deep Sky Stacker and processed further with Photoshop. I used Astro Photography Tool to collect the data. I have a remote setup and was able to setup and control everything from inside the warmth and comfort of my home. I had recently purchased my ZWO camera and was really trying it out and all sorts of objects. I had been using my DSLR and was really happy with quality of images I was getting my new astronomical camera.
When I saw your post today, I went and dug up my images and notes to see what and how I did the imaging. I used Stellarium to attempt to center chain in the image, not perfect but all seven are in the field of view. I went to astrometry.net to make sure I had all of the galaxies in my view. I now have PixInsight as my processing program and I used it today to annotate the image. I will post both the annotated and original image. PixInsight has a very good script to aid in annotation of your images.
I really liked your image. I am zoomed in a bit more at 400mm focal length and my image is cropped. Yes the sky is really full of lots of galaxies and is always fun document them.
Thanks…
Stan
Here is a chart of the galaxies in Markarian Chain from Sky & Telescope Magazine.
Marvelous Markarian’s Chain
| O b j e c t | T y p e | Su r fac e B r ig h t n e s s | M ag( v ) | S iz e | D is t . (M l - y ) | RA | D e c. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M84/NGC 4374 | Elliptical | 13.0 | 9.1 | 6.5′ × 5.6′ | 57.1 | 12h 25.1m | +12° 53′ |
| M86/NGC 4406 | Elliptical | 13.2 | 8.9 | 8.9′ × 5.8′ | 61.3 | 12h 26.2m | +12° 57′ |
| NGC 4435 | Barred Lenticular | 12.5 | 10.8 | 2.8′ × 2.0′ | 54.8 | 12h 27.7m | +13° 05′ |
| NGC 4438 | Lenticular | 13.6 | 10.2 | 8.5′ × 3.2′ | 53.8 | 12h 27.8m | +13° 00′ |
| NGC 4458 | Elliptical | 13.1 | 12.1 | 1.7′ × 1.6′ | 54.1 | 12h 29.0m | +13° 14′ |
| NGC 4461 | Barred Lenticular | 12.8 | 11.2 | 3.5′ × 1.4′ | 56.1 | 12h 29.1m | +13° 11′ |
| NGC 4473 | Elliptical | 12.8 | 10.2 | 4.5′ × 2.5′ | 54.5 | 12h 29.8m | +13° 26′ |
| NGC 4477 | Barred Lenticular | 13.1 | 10.4 | 3.8′ × 3.5′ | 56.8 | 12h 30.0m | +13° 38′ |
| NGC 4479 | Barred Lenticular | 13.0 | 12.4 | 1.5′ × 1.3′ | 58.8 | 12h 30.3m | +13° 35′ |
Angular sizes and distances are from recent catalogs. Visually, an object’s size is often smaller than the cataloged value and varies according to the aperture and magnification of the viewing instrument. Right ascension and declination are for equinox 2000.0.
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Thank you Stan.
I will definitely have to check out that article. You have a very nice image there. Thanks for sharing it. This hobby we all share is truly rewarding.
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